2) Dhavana utsavam:-
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All of us know that 'Dhavanam' means, a type of flower which smells good. We can say that it is a herbal flower which is good for health if we smell it. So dhavana utsavam means the emperuman adorned with dhavana malai and goes for thiruveedhi purapadu. It is celebrated in the month of masi(march). During this month Sri Parthasarathy swamy goes to the Dhavana utsava bungalow in the morning itself, he does not wear any jewels, he dresses in a very simple manner as you can see in the picture.Then he gets ready for thirumanjanam, then thirumanjanam is done for the lord and take rest in the room at the back with a kannadi inside it. At this time the srivaishnavas who are residing there will offers more fruits, especialy the fruits which makes the body cool, that type of fruits will be offered and even cucumber is offered for the lord as it makes the body cool. This is done because the month may will be very suuny or hot.

In the evening he gets ready after adorning the jewels and dhavana saram or malai and then participate in the purapadu inside the bungalow, then thiruvaradhanam for him, then the holy water is distributed to all the srivaishnavas and bagavathas. Then he starts from there for a thiruveedhi purapadu and then comes to the temple in the evening only.

This 'Dhavana utsava bungalow' is newly renovated recently and the gril gates are fixed at the entrances to protect the lord and as I already mentioned the lord's rest room at the back of the bungalow and even that has wooden doors so as to protect the god. you can see the room and the gril gates around the bangalow very well in the picture. This bungalow belongs to Sri Parthasarathy swamy. It is a very nice bungalow with more trees and plants.

The inside structure of the bangalow is designed very well and the mandapam in which the lord is placed consists of four big pillars which was picked up from the underground of the bangalow, it was kept by the old people, I can say that those people already know that the present generation will renovate this bungalow so at that time this pillars will be usefull, see how inteligent our forefathers are. They plan everything for the future and does not waste any useful thing. We should really appreciate our forefathers and old people for their inteligence.

KARTHIKAI DEEPA UTSAVAM:-
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As we all know that today is Karthikai deepam, let us see about the karthikai deepa utsavam of Sri Parthasaratrhy swamy. I can say that this utsavam is also an important utsavam for Sri Parthasarathy swamy, you may think that I am always saying every utsavam is important, but really for Sri Parthasarathy swamy, every utsavam is important and every utsavam has its own significance.

In this utsavam Sri Parthasarathy swamy is dressed with more jewels will be ready for the thiruveedhi purapadu, the deepam(agal vilakku) will be made ready in front of the utsavar and will be purified and made some pooja by the priest. Acualy 17 deepams are kept before the swamy and is purified and this deepam is carried by the thenkalai srivaishnavas and kept in the various sannadhis in this temple. And the last but not the least is kept on the top of the pillar in front of the temple near Sri Parthasarathy swamy's dhojasthambam.

Then Sri Parthasarathy swamy goes out for thiruveedhi purapadu and in front of the temple tank, 'Chokkapaanam' (a tree like thing made of dried leaves of the cocunut tree ) is lighted before the lord, it is lighted to destroy all the 'Dhrishti' that has poured on the lord during this year by us. It is followed in most of the divya desams, but it is special in this divya desam. So we can learn a lesson from this chokkapaanam, we should destroy all our jealousy, ego etc.

Even Karthikai deepam is an important festival in our houses. During this festival, we have to light various deepams in our house and should keep in front of all the door steps, centre of the kolam etc. This is the festival which symbolisis that our life should be bright like the deepams and should be prosporous. I Wish with the blessings of Sri Parthasarathy Swamy let all the people's life be happy and brightfull like this festival.

OTHER UTSAVAMS OF SRI PARTHASARATHY SWAMY
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1) Theppotsavam:-(Boat festival)
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Theppotsavam is conducted in the month of Maasi(february). In this utsavam, Sri Parthasarathy swmay is dressed with jewels and first goes round the temple tank(outside) then comes inside the tank and goes inside the theppam which is made of wood. The theppam will be decorated with the pictures of variuos deties of the temple and a tower in the centre, the dwarapalakas(jayan and vijayan) will be standing at the gates of theppam to protect the lord inside, they the gaurds of swami, so they will be always with the lord protecting him, we people should first have the darshan of these 2 dwarapalakas and get his permissiom to see the lord. For Sri Parthasarathy swami the theppotsavam is for 3 days, but for the other
deities in the temple only 1 day.

After the swami going in to the theppam, the srivaishnavas starts the divya prabandha goshti after recieving the srisadagopa mariyadhai.Then the theppam starts slowly and then on the first day it goes 3 rounds, on the second day 5 rounds and on th third day 7 rounds respectively. Then after enjoying the cool water in the tank, Sri Parthasarathy swami goes out of the tank and goes through the four mada veethis to give his divine darshan to the people in the mada veethis.

Actualy the theppotsavam is conducted for the lord, as in the month of february and march, it will be too hot, even we cannot bare the hotness, so we go to some place and enjoy boating, so like that here Sri Parthasarathy swami also enjoys the cool water going in a boat(theppam) and also gives the darshan to the people who are sitting on the stairs of the tank. This tank is very famous, and the flower known as 'alli' grows in this tank, thats why this place is called as 'Thiru Alli Keni'(keni means tank). And on the third day, Sri Parthasarathy swami goes to the tank in the morning itself and enjoys thirumanjanam in the theppam itself and stays in the theppam till the evening enjoys purapadu inside the tank and also in the mada veethis.

IMPORTANT OCCASION IN THE BRAMMOTSAVAM
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I forgot to tell you an important occasion in the brammotsavm, During the brammotsavam the swamy is carried for a procession in diffrerent vahanams both in the morning and in the evening as I already said, an important occasion in the evening before going to the vahana mandapam(place where the vahanam is kept ready for the god to be placed over it) is the 'Patthi ulathal' it is the occasion in which the swamy adorning all jewels and the pushpa malai(garland) and is placed in a tholikineeyan or thanga thotti with silver thandu(plaquin in which the lord is carried) and is carried in the 36 kaal mandapam at the front of the temple.

The swamy is carried in the shoulders of thenkalai srivaishnava sripadham thangigal, slowly goes round the mandapam and gives darshan to everybody there. After completing half of the destination, the swamy is placed in a ungal(swing) in the ungal mandapam, the swamy gets some rest and accepts some sweets as naivedhyam. Then after giving darshan in the ungal, the swamy is carried agian and covers another half of the destination, at last but not least, the swamy comes and stands in front of the vahana mandapam, the srisaddgopam is carried by priest and goes to the sannadhi of swamy nammalwar for giving mariyadhai. Then the swamy is happiliy carried in a diffrent way to the vahana mandapam, it is called as 'veyyaalli sevai' or 'voiyyaara nadai' hope most of you know that. This will continue for all the 9 days of utsavam.


Another important occasion in the brammotsavam is 'Ekanda sevai'. This is the occasion which is conducted on the third day utsavam of Sri Parthasarathy swamy, it is conducted after the swami attending purapadu on the 'Garuda vahana'. This occasion is conducted because, the swamy gets tired after giving darshan on the garuda vahana to the people, so the swamy is placed on a tholikineeyan and carried slowly by the thenkalai srivaishnava sripadham thangigal.

The swamy listens to the nadhaswara and slowly comes out from the vahana mandapam and goes to the place where swamy attends his thirumanjanam. I can say that daily he will go in within 5 mins but on this day it will take 2 to 3 hrs to go in, as the swamy goes slowly, thats why it is called as 'Ekanda sevai'

UTSAVAMS OF SRI PARTHASARATHY SWAMY
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>Ten days utsavam:-
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1.Brammotsavam:-
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Brammotsavam is conducted in the month of chithirai(april to may). In this utsavam, the utsavar is carried on different vahanams daily, it goes for a period of ten days.

On the first day it starts with kodiettram, hoisting of the holy flag in the Dhodhasthambam, perumal is carried on the vahanams daily and goes on a prosession in the four mada veethis, both morning and in the evening. On this purapadu, the srivaishnavas chant the Naalaayira divya prabandha which was sung by the alwars. On the 7th day Rathotsavam takes place. On the 9th day evening after the purapadu, the avarohanam(kodiyerrakam) takes place.

Then on the tenth day, Dwadhasaaradhanam takes place, on this day, all the deties of the temple can be seen on the same dias, that is all the emperumans, prattimargal, alwars, acharyas will participate and thirumanjanam is conducted for all perumals, thiruvaradhanam(12 times) for all perumals, thiruvaimoli sevakalam etc. This 12 times thiruvaradhanam is conducted because, it is to compensate that in any one day in these ten days utsavam, if the thiruvaradhanam is done faster or not done due to some unexpected circumstances.

On this day itself, the srivaishnavas of thiruvallikeni chants all thousand pasurams of thiruvaimoli. Then all the perumal, prattimargal, alwars and acharyas will go back to their original place except Parthasarathy swamy, he will be attending a purapadu in the four mada veethis in Siriya ratham.

2. Thiruvadipoora utsavam:-
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The thiruvadipoora utsavam is also ten days utsavam. In this utsavam andal goes on a procession daily in the four veethis. Then after coming inside the temple, parthasarthy perumal; will be in a ungal in the front mandapam, andal will come there and malai mathal(garland changing) will be conduted for three times, then the srivaishnavas will be chanting thiruvaimoli, 100 songs daily. On the tenth day, Parthasarathy swamy will go to andal sannadhi, thirumanjanam will be conducted for both andal and perumal. Then in the evening thiruppavai, nachiyar thirumoli will be chanted, then sathumarai. After this, both perumal and andal will go for a procession(only andal and perumal as u can see in the picture) Then after coming inside, both the andal and perumal will be placed in a mansam(mandapam), then thiruvaradhanm, thiruvaimoli goshti, sathumarai. After this both andal and perumal goes to moolavar sannadhi, after that serthi sevai of andal and perumal in the moolavar sannadhi. After this thiruvadipooram, andal will be in the moolavar sannadhi with sri parthasarathy swamy for a month(till avani pooram) as this is her mother-in-law's house.

3. Adhyena utsavam:-
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This is another important utsavam, it is a 21 days utsavam, we can say that this is the utsavam which proceeds for a longer duration than that of other utsavams. It is splited as, 10 days Pagalpathu, 10 days Raapathu and one day of Iyarpa sathumarai. The pagalpathu means, the sevakalam is conducted in the day time, during this pagalpathu, all the alwars and acharyas of the temple will be participating with the perumal daily with various alankarams(thirukolam).
During this utsavam, mudhalairam and periya thirumoli is chanted. On the first day the utsavar gives the darshan as moolavar Sri Venkatakrishnan, and on the last day, the utsavar gives darshan as a Nachiyar(mohini alankaram).

Then comes the Rapathu utsavam, in this rapathu, the sevakalam is done in the night time, during this rapathu only Thiruvaimoli is chanted(daily 100 songs) It starts with the day of Vaikunta ekadasi which everybody know that it is an important day for us. On this day perumal is dressed with 'Vajrangi'(daimond angi) and comes out of the Paramapadha vaasal. Whoever watchs this gets moksham. Then the below said are the important alankarams of Rapathu utsavam:

Then on the tenth day 'Nammalwar thiruvaditholudhal '(nammalwar moksham), after the peruamal and alwar attending the purapadu in the four veethis of thiruvallikeni, thiruvaimoli (patham pathu)goshti is conducted, after this during the sathumarai, nammalwar is carried by the preists and will go round the mandapam in which Sri Parthasarathy swamy there with his two consorts, during this the srivaishnavas will chant 'Soolvisum panimugil......' pasuram from thiruvaimoli, then nammalwar will be attaining the holy feet of Sri Parthasarathy swamy. The people will not accept nammalwar attaining his thiruvadi so a representative of these people will go and ask the main preist to give back nammalwar as the people could not tolrate his absence in this boolokam, the priest will reply that nammalwar will be given back(will say 'Thandhom,Thandhom,Thandhom) Actualy the representative is not asking the priest but the perumal and also only perumal replies in the form of a priest. Then sathumarai takes place. On the next(21st day) Iyarpa sathumarai, on this day the perumal will be in a simple form, wearing white cloths which is a symbol of peace, and Iyarpa goshti is conducted and then sathumarai.

P.N:-Please click on the picture if u want to see it in a bigger size

My next posting will be about the other utsavams of Sri Parthasarathy swamy. Please reply me with your valuble comments and suggetions frankly so that it will be helpful for me to further develop my blog and present it in a more effective manner.

UTSAVAR SRI PARTHASARATHY SWAMY



virperuvizhavum kanjanum mallum
vEzhamum pAghanum veezha
settravan thannai purameriseitha
sivanurutuyarkalaithEvai
pattralarvEzhakkOl kaiyil kondu
pArthan than thEr mun nindrAnai
sittrivai paniyAl muditurandhAnai
ThiruvallikkEni kandEnE.



The above pasuram sung by Thirumangai alwar, describes about the utsavar Sri parthasarathy swamy, who was a chariot rider for arjuna. "Partha" means Arjuna, "Sarathy" means krishna(chariot rider). We all know that lord krishna was a cattle rearer in his childhood days, so he will be always with a stick in his hand, thats why alwar sang 'kol kayil kondu', even u can see this in the picture.

After his chilhood days, he was a chariot rider for arjuna during the gurukshetra war. Before the war, Bhishma sent Duryodana to request krishna not to take any weapons during the war.
We can consider the above as one reason for Sri Venkatakrishnan swamy(moolavar) not having any weapons and giving darshan with only two hands. In the war lord krishna helped a lot to arjuna to succeed him.

When we see the utsavar's face, it is not normal like all the utsavars, especialy utsavars are made of Panchaloka,(gold,silver,copper,brass and bronze), this divya mangala vigraha is also made of panchaloka, but why the face is not clear? Its because during the time of war, lord krishna himself got all the arrows from bhishmar in his face instead of arjuna, actualy the arrows came to hit arjuna's face but, in order to help arjuna from this horrible incident, he himself got all these arrows in his face. Its a very grief incident not for krishna but for us, because we are the people who is having the darshan daily. I can say that it is a lesson for us that whatever obstacles we face in life cannot constitute even a percent of which he got for himself.

So we should overcome all the obstacles in our life by keeping this incident in our mind.
To say frankly the tears will be rolling in our eyes whenever we have the darshan of him, especialy in a closeup view as rightly said by nammalwar in a pasuram in thiruvaimoli "kanneer malga irukkum"

My next posting will be about the yearly utsavams and importantance of Utsavar Sri Parthasarathy swamy. I request all the readers of this webpage to keep checking this webpage daily, as i will be uploading this webpage daily with new informations and with new pitures of various deities and their utsavams.

P.N:-In thiruvallikeni, there is an association called " SRI THENNACHARYA SRIVAISHNAVA SRIPAADHAM THAANGIGAL KAINKARIYA SABHAI"(since 1995). Our sabhai cosists of thengalai srivaishnava sripadham thangigal of thiruvallikeni. The members in this sabhai are all youngsters who has put their interest in doing kainkariyams for the emperumans in every divya desams, avathara sthalas, and abimana sthalas. The main motive of our sabha is to do more and more kainkariyams to THIRUVALLIKENI divya desam.

Please check our link : www.geocities.com/thennacharya